That Uncertain Night
by Thuktun Flishithy
Summary: Twenty years after the most destructive war in the history of five worlds, the unsteady peace between humanity, the Fithp, and the Race receives its greatest test as the Colonization Fleet finally arrives from Home. The quiet days of the postwar world have ended, and now night falls on Earth as the struggle for peace begins its final stage. Sequel to Worldfall.
1. Chapter 1

**Personal Log  
Observer - Designation ****_They Are Worth Remembering  
_****Verification Code****_ When the Great fight, it is the Small who suffer_**

I find myself standing at a precipice, looking across the horizon of this world I have called home for the past fifteen of its years. It is a quiet place, devoid of the works of the planet's inhabitants, be they native or migrant. Lush foliage blankets the coast, snaking its way up the steep cliff, splitting stone. Here, I cannot hear the bustle of cities, or the rumbling of factories, not even the roar of spaceports.

But even in such a location, sentience makes itself known. There is not a place on this planet where its presence cannot be detected, in shape or shadow.

I watch the twilight sky, extraordinarily clear for a world that had dealt with considerable light pollution issues even before an asteroid struck it. The sun begins to set, taking with it the blue hue of the horizon. The stars begin to make themselves visible, but now they must compete with much closer lights- orbital habitats, industrial cargo vessels, surface-to-orbit launch vehicle, exploratory vessels hurtling to other worlds, and a nascent war fleet.

However, even they are not what draws my attention as I look at the black expanse above me. Rather, it is the newest additions to the night sky that catch my gaze- two hundred and fifty bright points of light, crowded together. Cetus, the constellation from which it has come, is now deformed, transformed into a gravid whale that looks ready to give birth at a moment's notice.

These new lights are brighter than everything else in the sky, save for the massive moon of this world. They can be seen at night in the hearts of the largest cities on the planet, and even in daytime a sharp observer can find them. For the past ten days have they been visible to the naked eye, and the past ten days have been ones of tension. I see it in the way the bustle of life has seemingly slowed, as if everyone is holding their breath, and in the furtive glances they spare to the sky whenever possible, whether they be human, Race, or fithp. From television programs to social events to the internet, the newest constellation dominates them as readily as it dominates the night sky.

After twenty years, the Race Colonization Fleet has arrived in the solar system.

With this, the final half of the conflict begun twenty years ago begins. Though an entire human generation has passed since Earth's victory over its invaders, the war was but a part of the equation. The system that has been painstakingly built by human, Race, and fithp over the past two decades is an incomplete one- the incoming Colonization Fleet, the Emperor's reply, and the diplomatic envoy to Home, are its final pieces. It is they that will either break this system, or prove its resiliency.

The sun has all but vanished below the horizon, and more of the stars make themselves visible, glittering in the infinite blackness. For the past few months, I have noticed a growing trend in stargazing parties across the planet, primarily focused on Tau Ceti, though a few have been focused on Alpha Centauri and the two systems owned by the Race. There is no practical purpose behind it- even with a powerful ground-based telescope, Tau Ceti remains little more than a point of light hanging in darkness. One cannot hope to see the Race's presence, or even Home itself, a power that the most advanced space telescopes are scarcely capable of.

And yet, perhaps it is because they only see a point of light, that they continue to look. A way to recognize and acknowledge their worries of the future. They naturally think of the relations with the Race, of the possibility that the Emperor will order a resumption of the war and bring all five species to the brink of annihilation, but when they look to the source of their concerns, all they see is a point of light. The uncertain future of four worlds and five peoples, made manifest in a faint light.

In a matter of weeks, Earth will finally grapple with the issue of the Colonization Fleet, and all the possible decisions will fall away, until one remains. In less than four years, the Emperor's reply to Earth will finally arrive, and the first transmissions from the Ramesses-Hattusillis mission will follow in another seven. On the decisions made in the coming decades hinges the fate of entire civilizations.

To borrow a human aphorism, I have my work cut out for me.

Rather than recording the words of the people who live these events entire decades after the fact, however, I now have an opportunity to watch them unfold before me. To record the changes in the people as they react to the changes in the world around them, year after year, decade after decade. A more ambitious and difficult process than my previous endeavor, but one that could prove far more rewarding.

But such work will not begin yet. For now, I continue to watch the sky. The sun finally sets. The long day of silence between Earth and Home has come to an end, and now night has begun. The light of the sun has now vanished, and even the new constellation will disappear, one by one, as the fusion drives of the Colonization Fleet deactivate and carry a hundred million sleeping souls to this planet. Soon, even the stars will seem to fall out of sight, until only one remains- far dimmer than many others, and yet in the eyes of the world, it seems brighter than anything else.

Quiet falls on an entire world, as a night of uncertainty begins for the worlds of humanity, the fithp, and the Race. Whether or not the sun will rise again remains yet to be seen.


	2. Chapter 2

**Year 0: Paulson I**

_Once again, I find myself back at Mauna Kea Surveillance Observatory. Whereas my previous visit was during the quiet hours, now the building is abuzz with technicians, scientists, and other staff. Nevertheless, Dr. Paulson finds time for our interview as we sit down at the main control room._

**Q: Hello again, Dr. Paulson. I imagine it's been a busy few days.**

A: Don't need to tell me about it. Congratulations on your book, by the by. Ever since it published, web searches for this place spiked five thousand percent. I mean, the number was really small to begin with, so it's not as big as it sounds, but...

Sorry, rambling. Mind's been frayed these past few days. I take it you want to ask about the current situation?

**Q: Actually, I was hoping to ask you about the history of tracking the Colonization Fleet, from the beginning.**

_Paulson blinks._

A: Oh, oh! Well, I guess it makes sense. Very beginning... let's see...

_She hums for a moment, then focuses her vision._

Well, the Eyes Pealed Project officially began in 2024, but that's a bit misleading. As soon as the first fusion flames were detected, dozens of observation projects were born over the years, most of them informal. You had Americans, Russians, Chinese, Indians, all working independently; but they also formed cooperative projects to track the Fleet and Flishithy. Then the war began, and some projects got dissolved, going from tracking the ships to looking for weapons on the ships, or the Foot...

All of those disjointed projects got centralized and refined under the Eyes Pealed Project. While each nation still controls the individual observatories on their own territory, and not all of the observatories are dedicated fully to scanning for extraterrestrial threats, we all ultimately answer to the TGDF and UN.

It was an odd first few years. I mean, I'm also involved with other projects, such as tracking our own ships, but a lot of the equipment hadn't been put up yet. After all, the Fithp destroyed the Hubble, and the war delayed the James Webb project to the point that it became outdated before it could launch...

**Q: When were the first telescopes dedicated to tracking spacecraft developed?**

A: By 2025 or so, I believe. Tracking spacecraft is a different beast from studying stars or other distant celestial phenomena- the targets are far smaller, but much closer, and the best wavelengths for detection are different. The James Webb would have been meant for detecting red-shifted objects, too faint for detection by previous telescopes. But for tracking incoming ships, it's more ideal to have the telescope optimized for higher frequencies.

**Q: Why so?**

A: If a ship was coming in our direction, especially at relativistic velocities, the light emanating from it would be compressed due to the Doppler effect. That, and if it turned around to decelerate, the drive would almost certainly be of the kind that produces higher frequencies of light- ultraviolet, x-rays, gamma rays even. Theoretically speaking, one could even determine the performance and type of engine from studying the flare of the drive.

Of course, we already knew the type of drive flare that the Colonization Fleet would be producing. And, we knew exactly where it'd be coming from.

**Q: When were you first able to detect the Colonization Fleet?**

A: Well, you have to remember that Tau Ceti is nearly twelve light years away, so the first opportunity to see the Fleet wouldn't be until 2032 or so, as that's how long it'd take for the light to reach us. And sure enough, it did.

_She pauses to access her phone, then pulls up a hologram of a seemingly random segment of space, dominated by the glare of an unseen star. Faintly, one can see a few wisps of particulate, so imperceptible that they could easily been missed. It is reminiscent of the way microdroplets split and dance over the surface of a hot cup of tea._

I'm sure you're familiar with this photo. That wispy stuff is, in essence, space dust. Ice crystals, presolar grains, that sort of stuff. Each grain is on a scale best measured in micrometers or smaller, but from a distance the clouds can be detected.

Those coalesced wisps you see there are the wakes of the Colonization Fleet's ships, as they barreled through the dust at about half a percent of the speed of light. By that point, they'd already cleared their version of the Oort Cloud.

That was a bit of an "Welp" moment for us.

**Q: Welp?**

A: I mean, we already knew that the Fleet would be leaving around that time, thanks to all the info we got from the Race on Earth, but it was the last nail in the coffin. For all we knew beforehand, the Fleet could have been delayed, or it was the greatest deception ever pulled in history. There were even crackpots claiming that the Race lied about coming from Tau Ceti, or theorizing that the Hearth fithp were commencing an assault.

But that photo confirmed it. The Colonization Fleet was real, and it was already halfway here.

Now, this is where the observation stuff gets really wonky. Relativistic speeds and all that- blue shifts, distortion, yadda yadda. We weren't concerned for the most part about the early stages of the Fleet's transit to our star. We were more concerned about deceleration, or lack thereof.

**Q: Lack thereof? Was there a fear of relativistic attack?**

A: Yes.

_She frowns._

Okay, there was a fear, but it was small. The likelihood of the Fleet learning something was up, then deciding to do a suicide attack with civilian craft despite being the most narrow-minded and inflexible thinkers in the galaxy is... was small. Let's be real- no way in hell it would've happened. We had a firm grip on communications towards the Fleet, which was mum until they would have woken up, _and_ by the time they detected our own ship heading to Home, they'd be too deep into the deceleration phase to be a risk.

But, that didn't stop us from making sure that we could see every single last one of those torches turned back our way when they started decelerating. If just one of those ships didn't turn around on schedule, then there would've been hell to pay.

Thankfully, like everything else the Race does, the Fleet turned around and started decelerating all at once, like clockwork.

That was about three years ago. When I saw all the flames on the screen, I poured myself a little victory shot.

**Q: Only three years ago? Wouldn't have the torches been visible from much farther away?**

A: Despite the ridiculous thrust and performance on them, Race ships actually don't accelerate the _entire _trip. At some point, their exhaust velocity just can't make them go any faster. Which is for the best- if they were accelerating the whole time during that twenty year trip, at their max speed a marshmallow could hit with more than ten times the energy of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. A _ship_... that would make the Foot look like a firecracker.

They do it in spurts, I think. First they crank up the gees to get a nice velocity going, then they stop when clearing the Oort Cloud, and then they speed up more and more as the interstellar medium gets sparser. They coast for a bit, and then they hit the deceleration closer to the target, since the flare of the drives help handle the problem of debris.

But hopping across the stars isn't as easy for them as the Race makes it out to be. They actually pack on a crapload of Whipple shielding as they head out, and by the time they actually get here the shielding is practically nonexistent. At max speed, a milligram hits like a battleship shell. I'm honestly surprised they've never lost a ship transiting between stars.

_She pauses for a moment, brow knitted._

Putting together all the problems of interstellar travel like that... well, I guess it helps to explain the complexities of our little pickle here.

* * *

-/-\\-

* * *

**Year 0: Obinna I**

_For a second time, work brings me to Amadioha-1, the main space station of the UWAS. Unlike before, however, the station serves not as a stopping point, but as the location of my prospective interview._

_The station is far less crowded than the previous time. As the Colonization Fleet approaches, non-vital space traffic has gradually been brought to a halt, and Amadioha-1 now fulfills its secondary purpose- as a TGDF observation base. Rather than the usual throng of civilian contractors and tourists, I see scientists and TGDF members floating down the hallways._

_Lieutenant Chinua Obinna greets me in the CIC of the station. Gaunt, almost skeletal, he nevertheless proves a lively individual as he gestures about the heart of Amadioha-1._

**Q: Thank you for agreeing to talk to me, Lieutenant. **

A: It's no problem. I know a lot of the older officers tend to be wary of journalists, but I think it's good to embrace our transparency policy. People need to be able to trust those in power, and times like these matter the most.

**Q: I agree wholeheartedly. Now, let's get to the subject at hand. At what point were the procedures regarding the Colonization Fleet solidified?**

A: A lot later than most people would think. It wasn't just because people were arguing about what to do, though I've heard there's was... _is_... a lot of arguing. It's mainly that our procedures are heavily reliant on available resources and technology, and that changes a _lot_ more quickly than it does in other spheres. Fifteen years ago, we had fewer ships, fewer weapons... fewer everything. And the equipment we did have was of considerably lower performance.

Trust me, I know. I can still remember the freaky rattling the walls of our old tugs made when we turned the engines on. Nothing quite makes your testicles go up into your chest like feeling the fragile tin can, the only thing keeping you safe from dying a horrible and lonely death in the unforgiving vacuum of space, rattle like an old bus.

The biggest changes, I feel, came with the Homeward Bound project. The breakthroughs in engine technology meant that we could have warships capable of engaging in deep-space interception with the Fleet, and the laser we developed to push the _Ramesses_ provided a comfortable buffer.

**Q: A comfortable buffer?**

A: Let me rephrase that. From the beginning, it was decided that regardless of what we did... _do _with the Fleet, we weren't simply going to destroy it. In case you forgot, that was, you know, a pretty big deal? Clinching the Schism and Armistice kinda big?

Still, we're kinda paranoid. It's our job. If someone in the Fleet got a whiff of the impactors used in the war, or just went bugfuck nuts hearing of what happened, and decided to accelerate... well, even blowing up the ship could mean there'd still be relativistic shrapnel heading to Earth. The laser provides a means of ablating the shrapnel away from the planet, in case of that nightmare scenario.

**Q: How concerned were you of a relativistic strike from the Fleet?**

A: Me? Not very. It's not just a civilian fleet, it's a _Race _civilian fleet. They had these kind of ships for millennia, and yet even their military forces didn't think of weaponizing them until they were exposed directly to such ideas. Meanwhile, we had sci-fi authors writing about the idea decades before we even made a fusion drive.

Command, however, is paranoid. Again, our job. We actually did drills on what would happen if the Fleet didn't decelerate, and instead started heading our way with intent to wipe out the planet.

_He looks around, then leans in, as if worried about being overheard._

I know we're meant to be very transparent, but I also know that a lot of the brass probably wouldn't like me telling you this. Basically, the laser probably wouldn't be able to ablate all of the debris if a few starships decided to martyr themselves. Even a hunk of steel the size of your fist could pancake Lagos. One ship hitting us could have, like, thirty times the energy of Footfall.

If that's the case, then our fleet would be ordered to regroup at our bases on the other planets within the few years we'd have left. Some would try to help set up shop, preparing as large and as self-sufficient a colony as you can.

The rest... well, let's just say we'd use the laser to pay back the favor.

**Q: How serious were these considerations?**

A: Like I said, it was mainly just a scary thought exercise. And besides, it's no longer relevant. The Fleet decelerated, and it's too close to begin a proper acceleration. Of course, when I mean "close", I mean "they're passing the orbit of Neptune". That isn't stopping our fleet from intercepting them, though.

I don't know if proper communications have begun, since they might not have woken up yet. But you don't need to hear it from them to know that our situation's going to be a bit complicated.

**Q: In what regard?**

A: Interstellar travel definitely isn't as simple as point and go. Here, lemme show you.

_He floats over to the control panel, and pulls up an image on one of the larger screens. In the picture, I can see a tight cluster of silvery objects, consisting of massive spheres with bullet-shaped bodies trailing behind, looking as though they are standing on pillars of flame._

**Q: Is that the Colonization Fleet?**

A: No, it's my gourd collection.

_Laughs._

Joking aside, that's indeed the Fleet. This image is a composite, made of images taken by a few flybys we did and our Kuiper listening posts. The resolution on these photos are astounding- just five years ago these probably wouldn't have been possible.

**Q: They look quite different from the Conquest Fleet ships.**

A: It's the fuel tanks. Race ships have an absurd efficiency when it comes to fusion, which is always something that messes with my head when I think about how they still used floppy disks for a lot of stuff, but to get to that cruise velocity they still need a considerable fuel to mass ratio. The Conquest Fleet discarded them as they came in, which is why when they land they just look like bullets.

Not just fuel tanks, however. They also serve as protection from debris and radiation, along with the Whipple shielding and a beryllium coating that kinda goes over the bulbous part like an eggshell. They actually look a lot like the...

_He grins and waggles his eyebrows._

Eggman starships?

**Q: Enzmann starships, actually.**

_He frowns._

A: Damn. I thought I had a good joke there. In all due seriousness, though, the tanks demonstrate the issues at hand. Look at them.

_He zooms in on one of the starships, pointing with a long finger to the fuel tank. Though slightly grainy, I can tell that the tank looks as though it has been sandblasted, with white striations and the occasional pockmark marring its normally silver appearance. A heavily-chewed disc seems to rise a little above the bulb._

That's all that's left of the Whipple shielding, and even the beryllium coat. Out there is some of the vacuum-iest vacuum to have ever vacuumed, as in a few _atoms _per cubic meter, and yet there was still enough interstellar medium to do _that_, just because of how fast they were going.

It's like I said. Interstellar travel is not easy, even for them. From Home to here, there was probably as much mass in their way as there is in a fart after you eat my mother's jollof rice, and it chewed these ships up. It's a miracle they didn't have any significant fuel loss from punctures to the tank. Hell, it's a miracle they got here in one piece, if you ask me.

**Q: Then this is where the complications come from, I presume?**

A: This is the crux, yes. Those tanks are useless, now. They'll have to discard them and get new ones if they want to seriously refuel, but there's still the issue of damage to radiators, and overall mechanical stresses. After all, they've been running nonstop for twenty years, or maybe a little less if you take time dilation into account.

Refueling alone would be tough. That's tens of millions of tons worth of fusion fuel we'd need to give them. And even if we could manage that quick enough, they'd still need new fuel tanks, some downtime so they can be extensively overhauled, and new shielding. If they were just refueled and sent back, I doubt any of them would make it. Whether their radiators break down, or the little shielding they have left fails and fleck of ice rips them open, they'd probably all die within the first light year.

_That's_ the complexity I'm talking about. Even if we don't want them here, the Colonization Fleet isn't heading back to Home anytime soon.

* * *

-/-\\-

* * *

**Audio Transcript - Transmission From United Nations Special Assembly to 198th Emperor Sstalak. November 3rd, 2041.**

**3/10, 2:02.12 [UN Special Assembly]: **"This is a transmission directed towards the Fleetlord of the Colonization Fleet. Transmitting this message is a representative assembly of the 190 sovereign nations of Earth, known to you as Tosev Three. Intercepting you are spacecraft of our own design. You are to remain on your present course to orbital insertion- any deviance from this course will not be tolerated. Do you comply?"

**3/10, 3:39.23 [198th Emperor Sstalak]: **"This is Reffet, Fleetlord of the Colonization Fleet, as decreed by the 42nd Emperor Risson. Though I have not personally met my contemporary in the Conquest Fleet, allow me to commend his sense of humor. It is certainly a warm welcome to our newest holding."

_The translator rises from her seat, allowing Atvar to sit down in front of the interface._

**3/10, 3:40.41 [UN Special Assembly]:** "Reffet, this is Atvar, Fleetlord of the Conquest Fleet, as decreed by the 42nd Emperor Risson. If you had personally met me before coming here, you would know that I am not one to make a jest. Tosevite spacecraft are indeed on an intercept course, and should be there within five hours from the time you receive this message. I am sending the emergency verification code to assure you of my identity."

**3/10, 4:26.39 [198th Emperor Sstalak]: **"_Exalted Fleetlord _Atvar of the Conquest Fleet, what else could it be but a jest? Tosev Three has no industrial civilization. The natives should not be even capable of making primitive gunpowder, let alone spacecraft. Industrialized Tosevites... Utterly preposterous! I am making a note in my log of your gross misuse of emergency verification codes."

_After a heated debate, it is ultimately decided that they will wait for another message from the Colonization Fleet._

**3/10, 7:33:14 [198th Emperor Sstalak]: **"Fleetlord Atvar, there are fifteen spacecraft approaching, but the flares of the drives don't match our specifications. Did the ships in your Fleet suffer any mechanical difficulties during the forty years here?"

**3/10, 7:34.31 [198th Emperor Sstalak]: **"By the Emperor."

**3/10, 7:35.20 [UN Special Assembly]: **"Reffet, do you acknowledge?"

**3/10, 8:40.12 [198th Emperor Sstalak]: **"This is Shiplord Tsestil. The Exalted Fleetlord is currently in the infirmary, recuperating from a nervous episode. I... I am currently in acting command of the Colonization Fleet. Exalted Fleetlord Atvar of the Conquest Fleet... Exalted Fleetlord... are we safe?"

**3/10, 8:41.37 [UN Special Assembly]: **"The Colonization Fleet will not be harmed by the peoples of Tosev Three, Shiplord Tsestil. There is much to inform you of. Put most succinctly, the war has... not arrived at an outcome favorable to the Race. Not only did Tosev Three, known as Earth by the inhabitants, undergo a technological development more rapid than previously conceived, but another spacefaring species attempted its own conquest at the same time. Both failed."

**3/10, 9:02.22 [198th Emperor Sstalak]: **"The Tosevite spacecraft have rendezvoused with the Fleet, and are maintaining a distance of 2000 kilometers from the perimeter. ...I must profess my concern, Exalted Fleetlord. Another spacefaring species, in addition to this madness regarding Tosev Three? This is a... security risk to Home."

**3/10, 9:04.44 [UN Special Assembly]: **"The other species, who designate themselves as the fithp, hail from Jarasev. However, they are no longer a threat- the population here represents the last of their species. You will be provided with a full data packet regarding the war and its aftermath. I advise that you study it as soon as possible, as to avoid lunging towards deceptive conclusions. We have enough problems for a hundred lifetimes, Shiplord. There is no need to fabricate more."

**3/10, 9:05.11 [UN Special Assembly]: **"Shiplord, this is the representative assembly of Earth's nations. You will establish yourself in orbit approximately 900 kilometers from the surface of the planet. Until an official decision has been reached, you will keep the colonists in hibernation."

**3/10, 9:21.58 [198th Emperor Sstalak]: **"It shall be done, Tosev... Earthev. However, I must inform you that select specialist colonists have already been awakened from coldsleep."

**3/10, 9:23.51 [UN Special Assembly]: **"Acknowledged. That issue will be discussed at a later time."

**3/10, 9:42.34 [198th Emperor Sstalak]: **"I... I understand. We are beginning the final course corrections."

**3/10, 9:44.16 [UN Special Assembly]: **"Our ships will ensure that you enter orbit as directed. For your own safety, do not deviate from your course. There should be no orbital infrastructure that poses a hazard."

_Communications take on a lull, primarily technical data as the Fleet updates its trajectory and confirms with the UN._

**3/10, 19:06.00 [198th Emperor Sstalak]: **"The final burn has been completed. We are now in orbit."

**3/10, 19:06:09 [UN Special Assembly]: **"Acknowledged. On behalf of the 190 sovereign nations of this world, both human and fithp... welcome to Earth."

* * *

-/-\\-

* * *

_**You have been reading:**_

_**That Uncertain Night, Chapter One: Arrival**_


End file.
